Earl and the Campbell Twins (Published 1977)
Dave Anderson article on Tex Univ running back Earl Campbell and his twin brothers (M)
DALLAS—The big money is only a few months away now for Earl Campbell, the Texas running back who won the Heisman Trophy this year. The big money will appear in May after he is chosen early in the National Football League draft. But he's not spending money that he doesn't have yet.
The Frayed Couch and Darrell Royal
He woke up during the night “for no apparent reason,” as he says, and in the morning he signed a Texas grant-inaid.
“If I had slept through the night,” Earl Campbell says now, “I would've gone to Oklahoma.”
The next year Texas was hoping to persuade the Campbell twins to follow their brother to Austin.
“Earl and mother told us it was our decision,” Tim says. “She kept saying she wasn't telling us to go to Texas but it would be nice if all three brothers were at the same school. Earl had another reason. He told us it had to be our decision because if we came to Texas and didn't like it, we'd fault him and not us for coming.”
There's another Campbell prospect, Ronnie, a defensive end who is now a John Tyler High School sophomore.
“I hope Ronnie stays healthy,” Steve says. “I messed up my right knee my first game as a senior in high school. Cartilage. Th. doctor wanted to operate on it brut I didn't want him to. I wanted to play. It hasn't been right since. Sometimes I wonder if I should've had the operation, like the doctor wanted, but other times I don't know.”
In the 68‐0 rout of Virginia early this season, Steve Campbell scored two touchdowns.
“Earl was blocking for me on one.” Steve says. “That was something. But now I cover kickoffs.”
“I don't know how good Steve would've been if his knee was right,” Tim says, “but I know this—he was better football player than I was two years in a row in high school at both running back and linebacker.”
The twins room together in Jester Hall on the Austin campus. Earl recently moved to an apartment.
“That's a tradition,” Steve says, “Once the regular season ends, seniors usually move off campus. We don't hang out that much together. Tim's usually over at his ladyfriend's house. I'm around the dorm more. But on Sunday we usually all go to the East Austin Olivet Baptist Church together in Earl's car.” s
As the Heisman Trophy winner, Earl Campbell is aware of the spotlight he's in now.
“Earl told us,” Tim says. “that we've all got to watch ourselves because people will be looking for us to do something wrong. And we told him, ‘Earl, we know that.’ We know that from our mother.”
When the big money appears in a few months, Earl Campbell plans to buy a new home for his mother.
“We'll let Earl buy the house.” Steve Campbell says, “and Tim and me will put in the furniture.”
Two Touchdowns for Steve
